Monday, November 2, 2009

Not only were they beautiful to look at, but they were also reminiscent in texture, taste, and chewiness to the soft pretzels of my youth. Ever since then I've been obsessed with making them myself. I've tried a few recipes now and found this one to be the best of the bunch. It seems the secret is the baking soda, sugar, and water bath before baking. The boiling water gives it the chewy texture and the baking soda and sugar give it the distinctive pretzel-y flavor.

These are definitely better the first day and you don't want to save them in a plastic bag if you do have leftovers, since they'll get soggy after a while. Wrapping them in a towel to save overnight seems to be the best way to store them overnight. I did make one of the batches with whole wheat flour and they didn't have quite the right chewy texture, but were definitely still delicious!

Combine flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in stand mixer and blend together. While machine is still running, gradually add hot water until a smooth elastic dough consistency is reached (you may not need all of the water, so be sure to add slowly).

Knead for 3-4 minutes. Add dough to large greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel; let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

When dough is doubled, punch dough down and knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide dough into 3 equal sections. Take one of the thirds and form into six equal sized dough balls. Using serrated knife (or cooking shears), cut X in top center of each dough ball. Repeat with the other two thirds of the dough. Cover with towel and let dough balls rise until almost doubled in volume, about 25 minutes.

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My name is Lara and while I'm definitely not a gourmet cook, I do love preparing tasty, healthy meals for my family. Finding new recipes to try and sharing the ones we've already fallen in love with is a passion I've had since college and the reason why I've started this blog! With five kids, I'm usually in a hurry, so you'll find most of these recipes kid friendly and simple to make.